Opinion + Apps | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+technology/apps
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016Fri, 09 Dec 2016 17:02:22 GMT2016-12-09T17:02:22Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
How old do you look? I wouldn’t ask the internet | Tim Dowlinghttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/25/how-old-do-i-look-internet-women-refugees-daily-mail
The how-old.net website – which uses photos to judge your age – didn’t work for me. For women and refugees, of course, there’s the Daily Mail<p>In Tuesday’s Daily Mail there is <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3868712/Would-dare-ask-computer-old-look-Eight-brave-women-try-terrifyingly-simple-new-internet-craze.html" title="">a feature</a> in which eight well-known women agreed to have their age estimated by some face recognition software. Photos of them were uploaded to Microsoft’s <a href="http://how-old.net/" title="">how-old.net</a>, which makes use of cloud-based algorithms to figure out how old you are. The Mail chose to call how-old.net “the terrifyingly simple new internet craze”, rather than “that app that became famous last week when we tried to use it to determine the age of some child migrants”.</p><p>One of the arriving migrants the Mail singled out, who perhaps looked a bit older than 18, was the subject of some confusion over whether he might have been an adult translator. It seems he wasn’t (his status is unconfirmed), although in subsequent reporting the Mail kept referring to him – inside quotation marks – as a “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3854888/Charity-FALSELY-claims-38-year-old-child-asylum-seeker-actually-interpreter-one-migrant-Calais-confesses-course-majority-lie-age-UK.html" title="">38-year-old child asylum seeker</a>”, the “38” having been the determination of how-old.net, which the Mail describes as offering “an unofficial ‘fun’ guess at ages”.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2016/oct/20/refugees-and-cindy-crawfords-daughter-an-age-old-problem-for-the-tabloids">Refugees and Cindy Crawford’s daughter: an age-old problem for the tabloids</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/27/racist-bar-brawl-yerkess-family-tripadvisor-review">Racist bar brawl? Let me write a review | Tim Dowling</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/25/how-old-do-i-look-internet-women-refugees-daily-mail">Continue reading...</a>WomenRefugeesDaily MailNational newspapersTechnologyAppsTue, 25 Oct 2016 13:43:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/25/how-old-do-i-look-internet-women-refugees-daily-mailPhotograph: AlamyPhotograph: AlamyTim Dowling2016-10-25T13:43:47ZThe death of hitchhiking is a modern tragedy | Anne Perkinshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/21/death-of-hitchhiking-modern-tragedy-frenchman-new-zealand
<p>Would you wait four days for a ride? One Frenchman did in New Zealand – it seems the days of mutuality and serendipity are over</p><p>It’s impossible not to feel a little bit sorry for Cédric Rault-Verpre who lost it earlier this week after allegedly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/20/french-hitchhiker-goes-beserk-new-zealand-four-days-stuck-without-a-lift">waiting four days for a ride</a>, somewhere on the wild west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Apparently the Frenchman could perfectly well have walked to his next destination in a day.</p><p>The road clearly wasn’t much used and it runs through the <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Punakaiki,+New+Zealand/@-42.1243966,171.3133411,12.9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x6d25853bd612a8af:0x500ef868479a580!8m2!3d-42.1084114!4d171.3362503">huge Paparoa national park</a> , mostly beside the sea. That’s the west coast of New Zealand for you. Lots of people go there because they like it empty. But he couldn’t get a lift, and he ended up attacking the Welcome to Punakaiki sign in what must surely be an epically pointless piece of road rage.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/shortcuts/2016/sep/20/how-to-hitchhike-effectively-contain-your-anger-and-know-where-to-stand">How to hitchhike effectively: contain your anger and know where to stand</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/29/follow-swallows-roger-deakin-hitchhiking-to-the-sun">Follow the swallows: Roger Deakin's days hitchhiking to the sun</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/21/death-of-hitchhiking-modern-tragedy-frenchman-new-zealand">Continue reading...</a>TravelSocietyAppsNew ZealandTransportUK newsWorld newsWed, 21 Sep 2016 12:32:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/21/death-of-hitchhiking-modern-tragedy-frenchman-new-zealandPhotograph: da-kuk/Getty ImagesPhotograph: da-kuk/Getty ImagesAnne Perkins2016-09-21T12:32:15ZDon’t let WhatsApp nudge you into sharing your data with Facebook | John Naughtonhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/18/whatsapp-nudge-to-share-data-with-facebook
<p>The popular messaging app built its reputation on putting users first. Now its corporate owners are looking for payback at our expense</p><p>When WhatsApp, the messaging app, launched in 2009, it struck me as one of the most interesting innovations I’d seen in ages – for two reasons. The first was that it seemed beautifully designed from the outset: it was clean, minimalist and efficient; and, secondly, it had a business model that did not depend on advertising. Instead, users got a year free, after which they paid a modest annual subscription.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/25/whatsapp-to-give-users-phone-number-facebook-for-targeted-ads">WhatsApp to give users' phone numbers to Facebook for targeted ads</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/03/from-political-coups-to-family-feuds-how-whatsapp-became-our-favourite-way-to-chat">From political coups to family feuds: how WhatsApp became our favourite way to chat</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/26/whatsapp-phone-calls-smartphone-messaging-millennials">Wondering why that millennial won't take your phone call? Here's why | Daisy Buchanan</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/18/whatsapp-nudge-to-share-data-with-facebook">Continue reading...</a>WhatsAppInternetTechnologyPrivacyData and computer securityAppsFacebookSun, 18 Sep 2016 18:28:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/18/whatsapp-nudge-to-share-data-with-facebookPhotograph: Patrick Sison/APPhotograph: Patrick Sison/APJohn Naughton2016-09-18T18:28:09ZGay men's lives have changed for the better, and Grindr is part of that | John Paul Brammerhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/05/grindr-gay-men-hookup-apps-social-lives
<p>As new research shows, what are sometimes dismissed as hook-up apps provide a lifeline and community for those of us far from the bright lights of the big city</p><p>The first gay bar I ever went to was called Tramps. Sequestered in an area in Oklahoma City called “the strip”, it was a stone’s throw away from the Habana Inn, a gay hotel complex and cruising site.</p><p>“We’ve got to show him,” my friend said with a grin. I had just turned 21 and had only been out of the closet for a few months. It was a time of rapid discovery, a time when the experience of looking and being looked at in a sexual way was new, exciting and addictive. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/05/grindr-gay-men-hookup-apps-social-lives">Continue reading...</a>LGBT rightsUS newsWorld newsGrindrDatingAppsTechnologyLife and styleSun, 05 Jun 2016 12:00:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/05/grindr-gay-men-hookup-apps-social-livesPhotograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesJohn Paul Brammer2016-06-05T12:00:39ZYour WhatsApp secrets are safe. But Big Brother is still watching you… | John Naughtonhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/10/whatsapp-encryption-billion-users-data-security
One billion users of the messaging service are now promised full encryption. Which can only mean the spooks will retaliate elsewhere<p>In some ways, the biggest news of the week was not the Panama papers but the <a href="https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000618/end-to-end-encryption">announcement</a> that WhatsApp was rolling out end-to-end encryption for all its 1bn users. “From now on,” it said, “when you and your contacts use the latest version of the app, every call you make, and every message, photo, video, file and voice message you send, is end-to-end encrypted by default, including group chats.”</p><p>This is a big deal because it lifts encryption out of the for-geeks-only category and into the mainstream. Most people who use WhatsApp wouldn’t know a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_function">hash function</a> if it bit them on the leg. Although strong encryption has been available to the public ever since Phil Zimmermann wrote and released <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy">PGP (Pretty Good Privacy)</a> in 1991, it never realised its potential because the technicalities of setting it up for personal use defeated most lay users.</p><p>The WhatsApp decision is significant but it’s not the end of the story</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/20/i-am-funnier-and-franker-on-google-chat-but-whats-the-truth-about-instant-message-me">I am funnier and franker on Google chat, but what’s the truth about instant-message me?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/10/whatsapp-encryption-billion-users-data-security">Continue reading...</a>WhatsAppEncryptionData and computer securityAppsFBIChat and messaging appsData protectionInternetTechnologyUK newsSun, 10 Apr 2016 08:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/10/whatsapp-encryption-billion-users-data-securityPhotograph: Thomas White/ReutersPhotograph: Thomas White/ReutersJohn Naughton2016-04-10T08:00:01ZThe app to cure your loneliness: swipe right for your new BFF | Annie Stevenshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/07/the-app-to-cure-your-loneliness-swipe-right-for-your-new-bff
<p>The Bumble dating app has now launched BFF – a feature for finding friends. In a connected world that can often feel so lonely, it’s something to celebrate</p><p>I’ve been talking about my app idea, “Tinder for friends!”, for years. I wasn’t exactly first, given that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/relationships/11599989/The-matchmaking-app-for-people-who-want-to-make-friends-not-love.html">apps for friendship were already in existence</a> but that didn’t stop me from feeling thoroughly vindicated to read that this month dating app Bumble (which has the satisfying rule that only women can make the first move) had <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/04/bumble-launches-bff-a-feature-to-find-new-friends/">launched BFF.</a> </p><p>BFF is a feature within the Bumble app that allows people in need of a new hang to swipe through potential matches to find like-minded folk. What it really is, though, is a validation of the new ways we find people in a world that is increasingly connected, yet, often, never more lonely.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/13/why-cant-be-friends-survey-friendless">Good friends are hard to find – and even harder to keep | Tim Lott</a> </p><p>With friendship, we have many vacancies and can fill those spots with different types of people. But with romantic love, people are usually looking for one person, which means there’s a lot of pressure to present the best version of yourself on dates. There was no pressure to be this woman’s only friend – and that gave me the freedom to worry less about rejection and focus more about being myself.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/07/why-men-lose-friends-in-their-30s">Is it just me... or does everyone lose friends in their 30s?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/07/the-app-to-cure-your-loneliness-swipe-right-for-your-new-bff">Continue reading...</a>SocietyLife and styleTechnologyInternetAppsDatingRelationshipsThu, 07 Apr 2016 01:50:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/07/the-app-to-cure-your-loneliness-swipe-right-for-your-new-bffPhotograph: Christopher Lane for the GuidePhotograph: Christopher Lane for the GuideAnnie Stevens2016-04-07T01:50:41ZI need to escape from the planet of the apps | Bella Mackiehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/21/escape-planet-apps-downloaded-notifications
Apps should be either useful, interesting, or fun – but getting a notification now means I’m about to feel guilty or inadequate about something<p>My phone buzzes a lot. It lights up and grabs my attention during meetings, when I’m falling asleep and when I’m walking the dog. It just flashed while I was writing that sentence. But normally, it’s not interrupting my day with friends wanting to see me, or with declarations of love from a suitor (OK, never), or even with work emails. These alerts are not even from a person – they are increasingly from <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/apps" title="">apps</a>.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/07/do-we-need-app-to-monitor-premarital-sex">When self-monitoring becomes uncomfortably intimate…</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/29/apps-that-let-the-market-invade-private-lives-evgeny-morozov">When apps are driven by the market, there’s only one winner. It’s not you … </a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/21/escape-planet-apps-downloaded-notifications">Continue reading...</a>AppsSmartphonesMobile phonesTechnologyUK newsLife and styleMon, 21 Mar 2016 13:45:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/21/escape-planet-apps-downloaded-notificationsPhotograph: Samuel Gibbs for the GuardianPhotograph: Samuel Gibbs for the GuardianBella Mackie2016-03-21T13:45:49ZWhen self-monitoring becomes uncomfortably intimate…https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/07/do-we-need-app-to-monitor-premarital-sex
The fitness tracker craze has taken a paternalistic turn with a US university asking students to wear wristbands. Has datafication gone too far?<p>‘Apple’s <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/miguelhelft/2016/01/26/apples-iphone-sales-disappoint-but-profits-beat-targets/#2b28d7a3ddf5" title="">iPhone sales disappoint</a> but profit beats targets,” said the headline. It turned out that Apple sold “only” 74.77m iPhones in the fiscal first quarter of 2016, which is less than a 1% increase on the same period a year ago. So what happens? The share price plummets and <a href="https://abc.xyz/" title="">Alphabet</a> (aka Google) overtakes Apple as the world’s most valuable company.</p><p>And right on cue, we get the usual kind of kindergarten “analysis” from the tech commentariat. Apple has run out of ideas. It needs a new “<a href="http://www.techinsider.io/apple-needs-a-hit-2016-1" title="">breakthrough</a>” product along the lines of the iPhone. The iPad was supposed to be that product, but its sales are declining. And the Apple watch clearly isn’t going to take its place etc, etc...</p><p>There are two kinds of people: those who are obsessed with the datafication of their bodies and those who are not</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/07/do-we-need-app-to-monitor-premarital-sex">Continue reading...</a>AppsSurveillanceApple WatchGoogleAlphabetTechnologyAppleComputingFitnessLife and styleSun, 07 Feb 2016 09:00:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/07/do-we-need-app-to-monitor-premarital-sexPhotograph: Katherine Anne Rose for the ObserverPhotograph: Katherine Anne Rose for the ObserverJohn Naughton2016-02-07T09:00:38ZYour friends are having kids, and you’re lonely. Could a friendship app help? | Nell Frizzellhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/01/new-app-make-friends-overcome-loneliness
Britain is a nation full of loneliness. We use the internet to buy food, track our periods and get dates, so why not use it to find new mates?<p>If you can keep your diary empty when all about you are filling theirs and blaming it on work, if you can trust yourself to stay single but make allowance for the couples all around; if you can wait to have a baby, or make plans without an hour’s notice, if you can afford to go for dinner, and still haven’t got the money for a one-bedroom flat in a newly gentrified area: yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, but you’ll need friends, my girl.</p><p>Nobody warned me that my early 30s would be ushered in with the crack of an invisible starting gun; that all around me the women I spent years eating, dressing, dancing and making an exhibition of myself with would get busy. Proper jobs, babies, deposits, older parents, relationships, actual hobbies and hour-long commutes were a kick in the nads to our social life. Suddenly, if you wanted to hang out, you had to “pencil it in”, even though none of us have owned pencils since Year 9 maths. Which means, more often than anyone admits, you find yourself all gussied up with no one to see.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/23/loneliness-health-dangerous-old-age-death">Loneliness is dangerous: ignore it at your peril | Philippa Perry</a> </p><p>And it is the best of us – the bravest, the most proactive, the truly impressive – who take measures to meet new people</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/01/loneliness-at-work-introvert-sadness-bereft-in-bustling-office">Workplace loneliness is a real problem. For 45 hours a week I feel isolated | Anonymous</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/01/new-app-make-friends-overcome-loneliness">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleAppsTechnologyHealth & wellbeingRelationshipsDatingHealthMental healthOlder peopleYoung peopleDigital mediaMon, 01 Feb 2016 12:41:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/01/new-app-make-friends-overcome-lonelinessPhotograph: AlamyPhotograph: AlamyNell Frizzell2016-02-01T12:41:45ZEight ways to make blind dates even bleaker | Nell Frizzellhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/15/dating-marketing-tinder-nhs-transplant
Tinder’s decision to get into bed with NHS Blood and Transplant is only the start. Here’s a few more ideas of how technology and dating could hook up<p>There’s nothing like a bad <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/dating" title="">date</a> to make you slip out of your own skin. We’ve all had those “romantic” weekends away that end with your heart being booted around Platform 6 of Preston station by a man in ill-fitting jeans. And I know many of us have had the sort of one-night stand that leaves you wishing you could pull your brain out through your own eyes.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/07/elan-gale-tinder-nightmares-interview">Tinder Nightmares founder: ‘I hate dating so much'</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/07/sex-love-tinder-jane-austen-lucy-worsley">Sex might be easier to find these days. That doesn’t mean love is too | Nell Frizzell</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/15/dating-marketing-tinder-nhs-transplant">Continue reading...</a>DatingRelationshipsLife and styleUK newsAppsTue, 15 Dec 2015 12:43:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/15/dating-marketing-tinder-nhs-transplantPhotograph: PAPhotograph: PANell Frizzell2015-12-15T12:43:32ZShould we be worried if our homes are soon smarter than we are? | John Naughtonhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/06/smart-homes-security-risk-internet-of-things
Coming our way are houses run by networked kits . But this will have grave implications for privacy and security<p>There is a technological juggernaut heading our way. It’s called the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/internet-of-things" title="">Internet of Things </a>(IoT). For the tech industry, it’s the Next Big Thing, alongside big data, though in fact that pair are often just two sides of the same coin. The basic idea is that since computing devices are getting smaller and cheaper, and wireless network technology is becoming ubiquitous, it will soon be feasible to have trillions of tiny, networked computers embedded in <em>everything</em>. They can sense changes, turning things on and off, making decisions about whether to open a door or close a valve or order fresh supplies of milk, you name it, the computers communicating with one another and shipping data to server farms all over the place.</p><p>As ever with digital technology, there’s an underlying rationality to lots of this. The IoT could make our lives easier and our societies more efficient. If parking bays could signal to nearby cars that they are empty, then the nightmarish task of finding a parking place in crowded cities would be eased. If every river in the UK could tweet its level every few minutes, then we could have advance warning of downstream floods in time to alert those living in their paths. And so on.</p><p>Home-owners who place too much trust in such devices could easily wind up on the PleaseRobMe website</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/06/smart-homes-security-risk-internet-of-things">Continue reading...</a>Smart homesInternet of thingsInternetTechnologyUK newsAppsHousehold billsConsumer affairsSun, 06 Dec 2015 05:04:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/06/smart-homes-security-risk-internet-of-thingsPhotograph: Regis Duvignau/ReutersPhotograph: Regis Duvignau/ReutersJohn Naughton2015-12-06T05:04:10ZBlaming Tinder for the spike in STIs? It’s just a lazy swipe | Justin Hancockhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/02/blaming-tinder-sexually-transmitted-infections-dating-apps-cuts-sexual-health-services
Scare stories about dating apps are based on commonly held myths, when cuts to sexual health services are a very real problem<p>Dating apps are the subject of the latest panic around our sexual health and wellbeing, after porn, social media and sexting. BBC Newsbeat reported that apps such as Tinder and Happn could lead to a tipping point of people changing partners frequently, enough to cause an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34008736/dating-apps-increasing-rates-of-sexually-transmitted-infections-say-doctors">“explosion”</a> in HIV, according to sexual health consultant Dr Peter Greenhouse.</p><p>The assumption in these assertions is that people who use dating apps are more likely to acquire more sexual partners, and are also perhaps less likely to be serious about their sexual health. However, does the evidence back this up? The British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (<a href="http://www.natsal.ac.uk/home.aspx">Natsal</a>) are among the largest and most detailed studies of sexual behaviour in the world and the latest report, <a href="http://www.natsal.ac.uk/natsal-3.aspx">Natsal 3</a>, conducted from 2010-12, should make us think twice about jumping to these conclusions. The research team found:</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/07/sex-love-tinder-jane-austen-lucy-worsley">Sex might be easier to find these days. That doesn’t mean love is too | Nell Frizzell</a> </p><p>The baseline numbers for syphilis and gonorrhoea infections are comparatively very low</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/02/blaming-tinder-sexually-transmitted-infections-dating-apps-cuts-sexual-health-services">Continue reading...</a>Sexual healthHealthSocietySexualityUK newsGonorrhoeaDatingLife and styleTinderTechnologyAppsMon, 02 Nov 2015 17:38:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/02/blaming-tinder-sexually-transmitted-infections-dating-apps-cuts-sexual-health-servicesPhotograph: AlamyPhotograph: AlamyJustin Hancock2015-11-02T17:38:35ZWhy growing old the Silicon Valley way is a prescription for lonelinesshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/24/growing-old-silicon-valley-prescription-for-misery
Across the world, tech companies are engineering a future of robot helpers and smart healthcare for the elderly. But this new vision of the welfare state lacks one crucial element: dignity<p>Singapore’s old people have never had it so good: now, there’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/14/singapore-introduces-robocoach-to-keep-older-citizens-in-shape" title="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/14/singapore-introduces-robocoach-to-keep-older-citizens-in-shape">a robot to help them keep fit and healthy</a>. RoboCoach, their new best friend, offers both encouragement and exercise tips. Its message is unambiguous: get your exercise routines wrong – skipping them no longer seems optional – and you put extra strain on the country’s overstretched public finances.</p><p>As Singapore’s minister for communication and information put it, RoboCoach “is able to ensure that old people perform the exercise routines correctly so as to get maximum benefit from their workouts”. Free advice to Singaporean authorities: why not couple RoboCoach 2.0 with a fancy wristband like <a href="http://buy.pavlok.com" title="">Pavlok</a>, sending an electric shock every time its users slack off and deviate from established objectives?</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/11/-sp-live-forever-extend-life-calico-google-longevity">Live forever: Scientists say they’ll extend life ‘well beyond 120’</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/24/growing-old-silicon-valley-prescription-for-misery">Continue reading...</a>Older peopleSocial careAgeingScienceAppsRobotsTechnologySat, 24 Oct 2015 19:22:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/24/growing-old-silicon-valley-prescription-for-miseryPhotograph: Snap Stills/REX ShutterstockPhotograph: Snap Stills/REX ShutterstockEvgeny Morozov2015-10-24T19:22:06ZPeople who need Peeple are the loneliest people in the world | Marina Hydehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/02/peeple-people-app-rate-character
<p>A new app that lets you rate the character of friends and colleagues without their permission? Truly, the hour of the Peeplocalypse is upon us</p><p>A hugely sincere five stars for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/01/peeple-review-people-the-user-review-app-you-didnt-dare-ask-for">Peeple, the forthcoming app</a> that will let you rate the character of friends, colleagues and romantic partners, whether they want you to or not. News of its launch forces an urgent update to the Book of Revelation, which now pegs the number of the Beast as one star. Put simply, you wouldn’t hire it/shag it/call it “mate” ever again.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/01/peeple-review-people-the-user-review-app-you-didnt-dare-ask-for">Peeple review people: the user-review app you didn't dare ask for</a> </p><p>We’ve all been there, scrolling affectlessly through the three- and four-stars before a one-star breaks the ennui</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/02/review-people-peeple">Now we can review people on Peeple – great, let’s all crush each other | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/02/peeple-people-app-rate-character">Continue reading...</a>AppsTechnologySocial mediaDigital mediaMediaSocietyWorld newsInternet safetyInternetFri, 02 Oct 2015 16:09:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/02/peeple-people-app-rate-characterPhotograph: Noma BarPhotograph: Noma BarMarina Hyde2015-10-02T16:09:06ZNow we can review people on Peeple – great, let’s all crush each other | Rhiannon Lucy Cossletthttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/02/review-people-peeple
It was only a matter of time before we moved from rating businesses to rating humans. If it sounds sinister that’s because it is<p>Introducing <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/01/peeple-review-people-the-user-review-app-you-didnt-dare-ask-for" title="">Peeple</a>: a dystopian <a href="http://forthepeeple.com/" title="">new app</a> that allows you to assign reviews of between one and five stars to your fellow human beings. If it sounds deeply sinister, that’s because it is. But in a culture obsessed with user feedback, it really was only a matter of time before some marketing Yoda came up with software that allows you to “reference check” everyone around you, ruthlessly placing them in a public pecking order according to how well they have behaved towards you. The app’s Canadian creators – neither of whom appear to have embarked on an especially profound investigation into the malicious capabilities of the human psyche – dispute this, claiming it is a “positivity app for positive people”. Shame we’re all so negative, then.</p><p>So how many stars would you give your mum? Does she get the full five (“excellent mother, no complaints”) or are you going to dock a star for how she handled the divorce and nags you about your fertility (“Keeps telling me to freeze my eggs – do not recommend.”) What about your dad? (“Top notch father, five stars”; “Did not pay child support. Two stars”) Your best friend? (“Made me go on bridesmaid juice fast. No stars”) Your flatmate? (“Obsessively hoards toilet roll”) Your boss? (“Megalomaniac”) Your ex? (“<a href="http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2611.aspx" title="">HPV</a>”). Have the peeps behind Peeple truly thought this through? Complete social chaos in the form of lawsuits, HR disciplinary hearings, and bullying epidemics seem inevitable.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/01/peeple-review-people-the-user-review-app-you-didnt-dare-ask-for">Peeple review people: the user-review app you didn't dare ask for</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/02/review-people-peeple">Continue reading...</a>AppsInternetTechnologyInternet safetyLife and styleFri, 02 Oct 2015 09:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/02/review-people-peeplePhotograph: Brand New Images/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Brand New Images/Getty ImagesRhiannon Lucy Cosslett2015-10-02T09:00:09ZGoogle’s good deed can’t hide its US loyaltieshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/06/google-app-interstitials-us-soft-power
We can cheer the search engine’s stand against app-install interstitials, but shouldn’t ignore its self-interest<p>You know the problem: you’re on a train and suddenly realise you need some information that is available on the net. So you pull out your smartphone and type a web address into the search box. The server responds, the page you want begins to load and then suddenly there’s a big box obscuring the content. The box tells you that you’d be much better off downloading the company’s app. Inducements include the possibility that you might get a better rate by booking via the app than via the boring old website. Sometimes the “close” button that will enable you to get rid of this intrusion is obvious, but sometimes it’s hard to find on a small screen. In the meantime, the train has just gone into a tunnel and you’ve lost your internet connection.</p><p>Welcome to the world of “app-install interstitials”. They are, IMHO, a pain in the butt. On the scale of web annoyances, they rate just below pop-up ads and those display ads placed by companies that covertly monitor your browsing. But now it transpires that Google doesn’t like these interstitials either and has announced that henceforth it will be downgrading in its search results any mobile-oriented web pages that produce interstitials. “Our analysis shows,” <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/mobile-friendly-web-pages-using-app.html" title="">the company says</a>, “that it is not a good search experience and can be frustrating for users because they are expecting to see the content of the web page.” Right on. “Starting today, we’ll be updating the mobile-friendly test to indicate that sites should avoid showing app-install interstitials that hide a significant amount of content on the transition from the search result page.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/06/google-app-interstitials-us-soft-power">Continue reading...</a>GoogleAppsInternetTechnologySun, 06 Sep 2015 06:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/06/google-app-interstitials-us-soft-powerPhotograph: Dado Ruvic/ReutersThe European commission is investigating whether Google has abused its market position – which Google executives are said to view as reflecting anti-Americanism. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/ReutersPhotograph: Dado Ruvic/ReutersThe European commission is investigating whether Google has abused its market position – which Google executives are said to view as reflecting anti-Americanism. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/ReutersJohn Naughton2015-09-06T06:00:02ZWipe right: toilet app Looie forces movement of 'sharing economy' towards privatisation | Jeff Sparrowhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/21/like-uber-for-toilets-how-the-sharing-economy-forces-a-movement-towards-privatisation
<p>Looie, a new app servicing user-pays toilets, is making a splash. As bottled water did to drinking fountains, are free amenities destined to fight a rearguard action?</p><p>Meet <a href="http://looie.co/">Looie</a>: it’s like Uber, but for bodily functions. Looie is a new app that promises you access (for a fee, naturally) to private <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jul/01/billions-have-no-access-to-toilets-says-world-health-organisation-report">bathrooms</a>, all of which have been certified for hygiene and cleanliness. </p><p>“[Y]ou’re getting a consistent, amazing experience all the time,” <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/mobile-app-looie-finds-clean-bathrooms-new-york-city-price-1984628">explained Looie founder Yezin Al-Qaysi</a> earlier this year. “You won’t have to flush with your foot anymore.”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/10/subway-station-toilets-indicator-urban-civilisation">Subway station toilets: a surprisingly accurate indicator of urban civilisation</a> </p><p>If you can monetise the liquid going into a human body, you should be able to make a buck when it comes out.</p><p>[W]ell into the 1880s, new fountains were considered significant enough to warrant news stories in major newspapers. And large crowds would gather to watch them be turned on. In 1881, The New York Times wrote that a thousand people were present at the opening of the water fountain in Union Square.</p><p>Airports undergoing renovation keep losing their water fountains,’ she says, ‘while coolers stocked with Fiji proliferate. Well-maintained fountains are becoming about as scarce as working pay phones.</p><p>America has accepted the spread of the pay toilet, now a $2 million a year industry. That acceptance is importance because it firmly establishes a basic tenet of a true free market economy: that a fee can be placed on anything for which there is a demand … And it is not hard to forsee the day when what are presently considered “free” services will be recognised by creative capitalists for what they are – profit opportunities.</p><p>[It] always depended on a very measured and modest set of expectations from those worker-consumers, happy to accept a limited range of lifestyle choices and social identities: men were expected to accept their role as breadwinner and paterfamilias with very little variation in how these roles could be interpreted; educational options were narrowly restricted at all levels of society; immigrants were expected to assimilate; it was possibly the worst time in history to be gay; there were very few choices for the woman who didn’t want to be a housewife, etc. And this lack of freedom went along with a very modest range of choices in the marketplace: ‘You can have any colour you like, as long as it’s black,’ Henry Ford famously told his customers.’</p><p>The welfare state during the postwar boom provided security – but a security that could feel stultifying.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/25/toilets-composting-crisis-water-sanitation-hygiene">Composting loos should be the answer to the world's toilet crisis</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/21/like-uber-for-toilets-how-the-sharing-economy-forces-a-movement-towards-privatisation">Continue reading...</a>SanitationAustralia newsPublic services policySocietyUberEconomicsAppsTechnologyGig economyFri, 21 Aug 2015 02:36:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/21/like-uber-for-toilets-how-the-sharing-economy-forces-a-movement-towards-privatisationPhotograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianPhotograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianJeff Sparrow2015-08-21T02:36:50ZHow to survive the dating apocalypsehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/11/how-to-survive-dating-apocalypse-vanity-fair-romance
<p>According to Vanity Fair, those staring at their phones are eschewing romance in the real world. Here are some tips on negotiating hook-up hazards</p><p>Here’s how it goes. Every few months, a 4,000-word trend piece comes along that captures some elemental cultural truth and with it the imagination of the internet, magazine commissioning editors and desk workers the world over. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/12/bumble-dating-app-women-call-shots-whitney-wolfe">WLTM Bumble – A dating app where women call the shots</a> </p><p>Feel free to fake a phone call at 8am</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/11/how-to-survive-dating-apocalypse-vanity-fair-romance">Continue reading...</a>DatingTechnologyAppsTinderLife and styleTue, 11 Aug 2015 12:31:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/11/how-to-survive-dating-apocalypse-vanity-fair-romancePhotograph: Kurt Hutton/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Kurt Hutton/Getty ImagesHannah Jane Parkinson2015-08-11T12:31:38ZThe Uber addiction – why the taxi app is driving me crazyhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/12/uber-irresistible-rise-ethical-objections
<p>Ethical objections to the all-conquering app are laudable, but try maintaining those when there’s a cut-price chauffeur at the door</p><p>Bring up the subject of the world’s biggest, most unscrupulous tech companies, and many people will mention the low level of corporation tax paid by online behemoths in the UK (just slashed from 20% to 18% by 2020 in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2015/jul/08/budget-2015-live#block-559d14ede4b032a39a3bb395">George Osborne’s budget</a>). Or they’ll talk about how Amazon is squeezing independent bookshops and paying self-published authors a pittance – as little as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/02/amazon-pay-self-published-authors-per-page-read-kindle">$0.006 per page read</a>. Perhaps there will be handwringing over the state of Foxconn, the biggest supplier of Apple products. In Foxconn factories in China, workers average around 55 hours a week, and conditions <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30532463">are so poor</a> that in 2010 alone 14 workers killed themselves.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/09/uber-accused-exploiting-customers-triples-fares-during-tube-strike">Uber accused of exploiting customers during tube strike after it triples fares</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/18/suspend-uber-london-black-cab-drivers-claims-flawed-checks">Suspend Uber from London, minicab firms say after claims of flawed driver checks</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/12/uber-irresistible-rise-ethical-objections">Continue reading...</a>UberAppsTransportTechnologySun, 12 Jul 2015 09:30:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/12/uber-irresistible-rise-ethical-objectionsPhotograph: Illustration by Matt Murphy.Illustration by Matt Murphy. Photograph: Illustration by Matt Murphy.Photograph: Illustration by Matt Murphy.Illustration by Matt Murphy. Photograph: Illustration by Matt Murphy.Hannah Jane Parkinson2015-07-12T09:30:05ZBlack users on Vine: celebrating blackness 6 seconds at a time | Hannah Giorgishttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/17/black-users-on-vine-celebrating-blackness-6-seconds-at-a-time
<p>Vine allows for hilarious, multi-faceted, complex and game-changing commentary that is not possible elsewhere</p><p>A lot can happen in six seconds.</p><p>For users of Vine, a video-sharing platform and social networking site <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/09/if-twitter-gets-into-the-video-hosting-game-it-could-be-a-wonderful-and-horrible-thing/">acquired by Twitter in 2012</a>, six seconds is enough time to shine.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/17/black-users-on-vine-celebrating-blackness-6-seconds-at-a-time">Continue reading...</a>VineRace issuesCultureSocial mediaDigital mediaAppsSun, 17 May 2015 11:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/17/black-users-on-vine-celebrating-blackness-6-seconds-at-a-timePhotograph: VinePhotograph: VineHannah Giorgis2015-05-17T11:30:01Z